Online Safety

Citizens First Bank recognizes the importance of securing your information. Whether by paper mail, E-mail and online scams, or by telephone, identity thieves seem to always have a new technique for obtaining your private information. Keeping these emerging threats in mind, we offer this information to help you protect yourself against phishing, online scams, and identity theft. We believe that the best defense against criminal activity is to keep each and every customer informed about how to prevent identity theft.

How Citizens First Bank keeps you safe

Citizens First Bank’s online banking keeps you safe by using several built-in security features. The entire login page is encrypted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL). Any data transmitted, such as your login information, cannot be intercepted or “sniffed” by any third party. Also, when you activate your Citizens Online Account, you set up a method of Multi-Factor Authentication. This means that you need to know not only a password, but also a second security setting in order to access your information.

How You Can Protect Yourself

Identity theft and theft of personal information can occur in a number of ways. Information can be gathered out of household trash. Items such as bank statements or bills often contain personal information. Scammers can also lure you to a fraudulent website which has been created to mimic a legitimate banking website. Thieves may also just ask for your information by calling you and impersonating bank or government employees. Whether in an official looking email or with a telephone call, scammers get surprisingly good results just by asking someone for their personal information.

Please keep in mind that no employee of Citizens First Bank will ever contact you via email or telephone to ask for personal information of any kind. You should only give your personal information to an employee of Citizens First Bank if you have initiated contact with the bank. Any information requested will be used to verify your identity.

Here are several things you can do to protect yourself:

• Regularly examine your statements or use online banking to quickly catch any suspicious activity on your account. If you notice any suspicious activity such as unauthorized charges, contact Citizens First Bank immediately.
• Always shred any documents containing any personal information. This includes credit card offers, old bills, bank statements and credit card statements.
• If you use a home computer to access online banking, never allow your browser to store the passwords. Change your passwords frequently, and never use the same password for more than one website.
• Keep your Operating System up to date with all current patches and service packs.
• Install a trusted antivirus program and keep it up to date.
• Be very cautious of emails when you do not personally know the source. Never open an attachment unless you know and trust the sender.